Crummy, Slightly Cheaper Versions Of The Model 3 And Model Y Aren't Saving Tesla's Sales

Like the rest of the EV industry, Tesla is sort of going through it right now. The Austin, Texas-based automaker just saw its sales drop to a near four-year low in November, and that's despite the fact that it pulled out a couple of bargain basement versions of its popular Model Y and Model 3. Well, at least their content is bargain basement — their prices, well, not so much. It's no surprise Tesla saw a drop in sales. I mean, the entire market has since Donald Trump killed the $7,500 federal EV tax credit at the end of September. As it turns out, offering stripped-down versions of its two most popular models with just a $5,000 discount hasn't really been enough to win customers over.

Tesla apparently expected demand for the Standard version of its cars to support sales in November, but the company's total sales fell nearly 23% to 39,800 vehicles. That's down from 51,513 sales the same time a year earlier, and it also represents the lowest total since January of 2022, according to data from Cox Automotive that had been reviewed by Reuters.

It doesn't take much of a brain genius to see that there really isn't enough demand for Tesla Standard vehicles to make up for the overall drop in sales in the EV sector, despite Tesla's less-than-best efforts. To add insult to injury when it comes to profitability, a spokesperson for Cox told Reuters that these models may actually be eating away at the sales of more profitable vehicles, like the Model 3 Premium.

Still, the rest of the market is somehow faring even worse. Overall, U.S. EV sales fell more than 41% in November, and that meant Tesla's market share actually rose to 56.7%. Previously, it was at 43.1%, so while it might be a smaller pie, Tesla has a bigger piece.

In 2024, Tesla saw its deliveries fall for the first time as buyers struggled with high borrowing costs, competition from legacy automakers got better and CEO Elon Musk got really weird about right-wing politics. The company is still struggling to overcome that, and deliveries are expected to drop again this year.

Hurting matters further is a rather stale lineup. Tesla hasn't introduced a completely new model since the Cybertruck first hit the scene a few years back, and everything else it makes is desperately old. Sure, there have been updates over the years, but the Model Y has been in production since 2020, the Model 3 since 2017, the Model X since 2015 and the Model S since all the way back in 2012.

As we told you earlier this week, Tesla is doing everything it can to move its slow-selling low-priced vehicles. The company is offering 0% APR financing for 72 months to buyers with credit scores over 720. That works out to $529 per month with $3,300 due at delivery for a car with an MSRP of $41,630, including destination. It also offers lease deals on the Model Y Premium Real-Wheel Drive that bring payments to $449 per month for 36 months with zero dollars down. All you've gotta do is pay $1,145 at delivery to cover the first month's payment and an acquisition fee.

I sort of doubt that either of these offers will really be enough to save Tesla's bacon as we get further into the last month of 2025, but it's got to try something. With no new products on the horizon, the lights are already getting incredibly dim for 2026. At the very least, every other automaker is struggling too, and misery loves company.